Name: Manometer 

Cost: $65 to $130

Available at Hardware stores, Amazon, and manufacturers’ websites

Intended use

A manometer is used to measure differential pressure at the poultry barns. The static pressure is an indicator of how hard the exhaust fans are working to pull air into and down the house. As the static pressure increases, the amount of air moved by a fan decreases and power usage by the fans increases. The proper location to measure the static pressure is within 20 feet of the tunnel fans. To measure the differential pressure, place the high-pressure side (positive hose) of the manometer outside of the building away from the effects of the wind. The low-pressure side (negative hose) of the manometer should remain inside the building. The pressure difference between inside and outside will appear on the manometer. Static pressure above 0.20 inches of water (50 Pa) should be avoided. The optimal static pressure depends on various factors, including inlet design and placement, inlet opening size, inside/outside temperature difference, and house width. The optimal static pressure in poultry barns ranges between 0.04 to 0.15 inches of water (10 to 37 Pa) to achieve the required air throw requirements. 

Using the device

To use the device in a poultry barn, follow the following steps:

1. Turn on the device by pressing the ON/OFF key.
2. Press the “Zero” key to reset the device.
3. Press the “Unit” key to select the measuring unit from kPa, mmHg, inHg, psi, mbar, bar, ozin², kgcm², inH₂O, ftH₂O, cmH₂O.
4. Press the “Hold” key to hold your measurement value this time and press it again to release it.
5. Press the “Record” key to enter recording mode, then press it on and on, current-max-min-average value shows alternately, and the time correspondingly. The other keys are locked at this time and cannot be operated. Press it around five seconds again, exit recording mode. 

Author Profile

Mohammad Afrouziyeh

Livestock Research Program Officer at RDAR - Results Driven Agriculture Research

Mohammad was the PIP team Research Associate (2021-2024) with extensive experience in poultry nutrition. He wrote science articles for newsletters and worked on developing adaptations and recommendations to support the adoption of new managerial tools, products, services, and practices by the poultry industry.

Looking at his poultry industry perspective, Mohammad has been serving the poultry industry through his extensive experience in feed formulation as an animal nutritionist over the past ten years. He was also a university lecturer for 10 years. Mohammad was a member of the Animal Care and Use Committee (ACUC) at the U of A. Mohammad graduated with a Ph.D. degree in Animal Science from the University of Alberta with a Postdoctoral fellowship before moving to his Research Associate position with the PIP team. Serving the poultry industry as an animal nutritionist for more than a decade, Mohammad loves teaching and worked as a university lecturer in Iran and a teaching assistant at the U of A. Mohammad was inspired by Dr. Frank Robinson, practicing the inquiry-based learning method when working as a TA in his “Principles of Animal Agriculture” class. “I have a strong passion on poultry nutrition and have always loved to help poultry producers with optimizing the poultry systems. The challenging part of working with live animals is that you need to be on call even as a nutritionist. However, the joy of seeing healthy animals and help with their welfare overcome the challenging part.”